Travel Vaccinations in Patong, Phuket: Hep A/B, Japanese Encephalitis, Dengue Qdenga, Rabies and More

Pre-travel consultations, full vaccine stock including Hepatitis A and B, Typhoid, Japanese Encephalitis, Dengue (Qdenga), Rabies pre-exposure, Yellow Fever with ICVP, Cholera and routine boosters, plus malaria prophylaxis and a traveller’s diarrhoea kit. Clinically reviewed by the Doctor Patong Takecare Clinic medical team.

Quick answer: Most travellers to Thailand should be up to date on Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Tetanus (Tdap) and routine MMR and influenza. Longer stays, rural travel, or onward Asian and African legs typically add Hepatitis B, Japanese Encephalitis, Rabies pre-exposure and Dengue (Qdenga). Yellow Fever with an ICVP yellow card is required when arriving from or transiting through endemic countries. Book your pre-travel consultation ideally four to six weeks before departure, although last-minute travellers can still benefit from accelerated schedules.

WhatsApp for a pre-travel consult | Call +66 81 718 9080 | Find the clinic on Google Maps

Phuket sits at the crossroads of South East Asian travel, and many of the people we see are either starting a regional trip, transiting through, or living here long-term and planning a leg into India, Indonesia, Africa or South America. We run a full pre-travel clinic with all the vaccines stocked on site, an authorised Yellow Fever centre that issues the International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP) yellow card, malaria tablets, and a packed traveller’s diarrhoea kit you can collect the same day.

Who needs a pre-travel consultation

Anyone arriving in Thailand, leaving Thailand for another country, or living here and planning trips home or onward benefits from a structured pre-travel review. The vaccines you actually need depend on where you are going, how long you will stay, what you will be doing, your age, your medical history and your existing immunisation record. Backpackers heading into rural Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar or Indonesia have different risks from a family on a beach holiday in Phuket, and a healthcare worker on a six-month placement has different needs again from a weekend business traveller. Pregnant women, people on immunosuppressive drugs, and travellers with chronic disease need a tailored plan that may exclude live vaccines and add prophylactic medications. The consultation also covers food and water safety, mosquito-bite avoidance, altitude or dive medicine briefings if relevant, and a written summary you can show to onward clinics.

Travel vaccines we stock and offer

Hepatitis A (Havrix or Vaqta) is the single most important travel vaccine for Thailand and most of South East Asia, given as two doses six to twelve months apart, with over 95 percent protection after the first shot. Hepatitis B (Engerix-B, Recombivax) is a three-dose course at 0, 1 and 6 months and is recommended for healthcare workers, long-stay residents, anyone likely to need tattoos, piercings, dental work or medical care abroad, and travellers with new sexual partners. Twinrix combines both A and B into a single three-dose course. Typhoid is available as an oral four-capsule course (Vivotif) or a single intramuscular shot (Typhim Vi), useful for travel across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Japanese Encephalitis (Ixiaro) is a two-dose course given 28 days apart, critical for long stays or rural travel through rice paddies during the monsoon. Dengue is now covered by Qdenga (TAK-003), a two-dose live-attenuated vaccine given three months apart from age four upward, and unlike the older Dengvaxia it can be given regardless of prior dengue infection status. Rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis (Verorab, Speeda) is now a two-dose course at days 0 and 7 under the 2018 WHO schedule, and it simplifies any post-exposure regimen needed later. Yellow Fever (Stamaril) is a single dose giving lifetime protection, required for entry to many African and South American countries and often required when travelling onward from Thailand into yellow-fever zones; we issue the ICVP yellow card on the spot. Cholera (Dukoral) is an oral two-dose vaccine that also gives partial protection against ETEC traveller’s diarrhoea. Alongside the travel-specific vaccines we keep the full routine stock: annual influenza in both Northern and Southern Hemisphere formulations, Tdap boosters every ten years, MMR catch-up for unimmunised adults, Varicella for non-immune travellers, Meningococcal ACWY (Menveo, Nimenrix) for Hajj pilgrims and travellers to the sub-Saharan meningitis belt, polio boosters for active-transmission countries, and Pneumococcal PCV20 for older travellers or those with chronic disease.

Vaccine schedule, indication and validity at a glance

Vaccine	Schedule	Main indication	Validity
Hepatitis A (Havrix, Vaqta)	2 doses, 0 and 6 to 12 months	Almost all Thailand travel	20+ years after full course
Hepatitis B (Engerix-B, Recombivax)	3 doses, 0, 1 and 6 months	Long stay, healthcare, tattoos, sexual exposure	Lifelong after seroconversion
Hep A+B combined (Twinrix)	3 doses, 0, 1 and 6 months	Travellers needing both	As above
Typhoid (Vivotif oral, Typhim Vi IM)	4 oral capsules over 7 days, or 1 IM shot	Asia, Africa, Latin America	3 years
Japanese Encephalitis (Ixiaro)	2 doses, 0 and 28 days	Rural Asia, rice paddies, monsoon	Booster at 12 to 24 months, then long term
Dengue (Qdenga, TAK-003)	2 doses, 0 and 3 months, age 4+	Endemic Asia, regardless of prior dengue	At least 4.5 years, ongoing data
Rabies pre-exposure (Verorab, Speeda)	2 doses, 0 and 7 days	Scooter, jungle, long stay, kids	Long term, simplifies any later PEP
Yellow Fever (Stamaril)	Single dose	Africa, South America, ICVP entry rules	Lifetime, ICVP issued
Cholera oral (Dukoral)	2 doses, 1 week apart	High-risk areas, ETEC diarrhoea benefit	2 years
Influenza	Annual, single dose	All travellers, N and S hemisphere strains stocked	1 season
Tdap, MMR, Varicella, Polio, MenACWY, PCV20	Routine catch-up and boosters	Per individual record and destination	Varies by vaccine

Malaria prophylaxis and traveller’s diarrhoea kit

Phuket island itself is low risk for malaria, but border zones, forested provinces, and onward travel into Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and parts of Africa often need chemoprophylaxis. We prescribe doxycycline 100 mg daily starting two days before exposure and continuing four weeks after leaving the area, atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone) one tablet daily from one to two days before until seven days after, or weekly mefloquine starting two to three weeks before and continuing four weeks after exposure, although mefloquine is avoided in anyone with a psychiatric history. The right choice depends on destination resistance patterns, your other medications, pregnancy status, and tolerance, and we walk you through each option in the consult. The traveller’s diarrhoea kit is the second pillar we send most travellers home with. It contains oral rehydration salts (ORS) sachets, a standby antibiotic course of azithromycin 500 mg as a single dose or a three-day course (azithromycin is first-line across South East Asia because of widespread fluoroquinolone resistance), and loperamide for symptom control as long as there is no blood in the stool and no fever. We brief you on when to start the antibiotic, when to use ORS alone, and when to come back in.

Timing your pre-travel consultation

The ideal window is four to six weeks before departure, because most multi-dose courses (Hep B, Japanese Encephalitis, Rabies, Dengue) need time between doses for full effect, and live vaccines should be separated by four weeks from each other. That said, some protection is better than none, and last-minute travellers still benefit. Hepatitis A gives meaningful protection within two weeks of a single shot, Typhoid IM works in about a week, Yellow Fever takes ten days to be valid for ICVP rules, and accelerated rabies and Hep B schedules exist when time is short. We will tell you honestly what you can complete before you fly and what should be finished overseas or on return.

Red flags after a vaccine: Severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) is rare but can present within minutes as facial or tongue swelling, breathing difficulty, hives spreading from the injection site, or sudden collapse. Call us or go to the nearest emergency department immediately. Vaccination should be delayed if you have a fever above 38.5°C, an acute infection, or are in the early days of a new illness. Live vaccines (MMR, Varicella, Yellow Fever, Dengue Qdenga) should not be given in pregnancy or in significant immunosuppression, and we will switch to inactivated alternatives where possible.

See a doctor if: you develop fever, jaundice (yellow skin or eyes), persistent vomiting, bloody diarrhoea, a spreading rash, severe headache with neck stiffness, or unexplained bruising during or after travel. Any animal bite, scratch or saliva contact with broken skin needs same-day review for rabies post-exposure prophylaxis. Returned travellers with fever within three months of leaving a malaria zone need urgent assessment.

Prevention beyond the needle

Vaccines reduce risk, they do not remove it. Use a mosquito repellent containing DEET 30 percent on exposed skin, reapplied as directed, and consider permethrin-treated clothing for jungle, dawn or dusk activities. Choose bottled or sealed drinks, avoid ice from unknown sources, eat food that is hot, cooked through and freshly prepared, and peel fruit yourself. Carry condoms and use them with new partners; sexually transmitted infections, hepatitis B and HIV are all real travel risks. Pack ORS sachets in your day bag, wash hands with soap and water before eating, and use alcohol gel when soap is not available.

Prevention checklist: DEET 30 percent repellent, permethrin-treated clothing for high-risk areas, bottled or filtered water, fully cooked food, condoms, ORS sachets in the travel kit, hand hygiene with soap or alcohol gel, and a written list of your vaccines plus any prescription drugs you carry.

Summary

A pre-travel visit is one of the cheapest forms of insurance in travel medicine. The right combination of vaccines, malaria tablets and a packed diarrhoea kit prevents most of the illnesses that send travellers home early or into hospital abroad. We carry the full range, issue the ICVP yellow card, and run the consult around your itinerary rather than a generic checklist.

“We would rather see you four weeks early with time to space the doses than two days before your flight, but either way we will get you the best protection your timeline allows,” the Doctor Patong Takecare Clinic medical team.

Frequently asked questions

How far in advance should I book a pre-travel consultation?

Four to six weeks before departure is ideal, because most multi-dose vaccines need spacing for full effect and live vaccines should be separated. Two to three weeks still gives time for accelerated schedules, and even a day-before consult can cover Hepatitis A, Typhoid IM, Tdap and a malaria prescription. Book as early as you reasonably can, but do not skip the visit just because you are running late.

I am flying in three days. Is it too late?

No. Hepatitis A gives meaningful protection within two weeks of a single shot, Typhoid IM works in about seven days, and influenza, Tdap and meningococcal vaccines start working quickly. We can begin Hepatitis B and Rabies courses you finish on return, prescribe malaria tablets, and pack a traveller’s diarrhoea kit the same day. Some protection on schedule is always better than a full course you did not start.

Do I really need Yellow Fever for entry into Thailand or my next country?

Thailand requires a valid Yellow Fever ICVP only from travellers arriving from or transiting through endemic countries in Africa and South America. If your itinerary touches one of those countries, even on a layover, you will need the certificate. Many onward destinations have their own rules, so bring your full route to the consultation and we will check current requirements and issue the yellow card on the spot.

Is the dengue vaccine (Qdenga) right for me?

Qdenga (TAK-003) is approved from age four and, unlike the earlier Dengvaxia, can be given regardless of whether you have had dengue before, which makes it practical for travellers. It is a two-dose live-attenuated vaccine given three months apart, so it suits longer trips and repeat visitors to Asia rather than a one-week holiday. We will weigh your age, travel pattern and any immunosuppression to decide if it makes sense for you.

What about travel vaccines for children?

Most travel vaccines have paediatric formulations or age-appropriate dosing. Hepatitis A is recommended from one year, Japanese Encephalitis from two months in some products, Rabies pre-exposure from any age, and Qdenga from four years. We check the routine schedule (MMR, DTaP, polio) is up to date, often the most important catch-up step for children before travel, and tailor the rest to the trip.

What is the ICVP yellow card and do I need to carry it?

The International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP) is the small yellow booklet recognised under International Health Regulations, mainly for Yellow Fever but sometimes for polio and meningococcal vaccines. Carry it with your passport whenever your route involves a country that requires proof at the border. We issue and stamp the ICVP for vaccines given here, and we can transcribe records you bring from previous clinics into the same booklet.

Sources

CDC Yellow Book, Health Information for International Travel, wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook. World Health Organization, International Travel and Health, who.int/travel-advice. NaTHNaC TravelHealthPro (UK), travelhealthpro.org.uk. Thai Ministry of Public Health, Department of Disease Control travel guidance.

WhatsApp to book your pre-travel consult | Call +66 81 718 9080 | Find us on Google Maps

Travel medicine, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Twinrix, Typhoid, Japanese Encephalitis, Ixiaro, Dengue, Qdenga, TAK-003, Rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis, Verorab, Yellow Fever, Stamaril, ICVP, Cholera, Dukoral, Influenza, Tdap, MMR, Varicella, Meningococcal ACWY, Polio booster, Pneumococcal PCV20, Malaria prophylaxis, doxycycline, atovaquone-proguanil, Malarone, mefloquine, Azithromycin, Loperamide, Oral rehydration salts, DEET, Patong, Phuket, Thailand